Home Link Team - East Ayrshire Council: Planning the project

At the projects inception in 2017, funding was allocated from the Education department, via the Attainment Scotland Fund. The team of eleven Home Link Workers (HLWs) were hosted within the within Community Learning and Development Vibrant Communities which ensured a collaborative approach from the start. Due to funding restrictions the staffing has been reduced to eight HLWs and one Parental Engagement manager.  

School staff help to create/redesign the offer to families and refer them to the service. Vibrant Communities, and an extensive range of partners staff, help to provide interventions. HLWs regularly attend ‘Team Around the Family’ meetings and have always had a school coordinator (usually a depute headteacher) who they meet with on a regular basis to review their caseload and co-design inputs.  

The Home Link team were represented at the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) leadership group, GIRFEC steering group, children and young peoples strategic partners and localised community place-based working. 

The SAC drivers of Learning and Teaching, Leadership, and Families and Communities (as mentioned within the National Guidance documentation) were used as a map from 2017 to set local outcomes and the reporting expectations. Attendance was a clear measure identified at this stage as it was acknowledged that this was an area for development in schools and with families. 

Support for children and young people was developed from the national model of Request for Assistance, ensuring a coordinated offer of support, importantly with families at the centre. This is still the model the authority has in place now.  

Draft proposals for the HLWs service have always been fully co-designed and planned with education and Vibrant Communities staff.  

Time that was needed from the outset to plan and be clear on roles and responsibilities was required. Significant time was invested in staff training, establishing working relationships and establishing partnerships. This level of induction has continued as good practice through the full recruitment process from 2017 until the present day.  

Clear measures were aligned to national expectations. Engaging families and building trusting relationships and breaking down barriers were so important to the project’s success. Programme delivery and how this has evolved is driven by feedback from children, young people and families. 

The approach is fully supported by the education department’s senior leadership team and this filters to headteachers and school staff. Outcomes are linked to Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) aims and objectives and aligned to How Good Is Our School 4th edition (HGIOS4) as well as How Good Is Our Community Learning & Development (CLD) documentation and are included in school improvement planning.  

Meetings took place in each of the fifteen schools to discuss the Home Link Workers (HLW) service proposal which outlines the services the team provide to ensure the service was meeting need. This is included in the SAC annual plan and end of year report that evidences the outcomes of the services for the Scottish Government  

Engagement with families, attendance and how this is tracked and measured and reported back to school, has been identified as good practice in relation to His Majesty’s IE and CLD inspections.  

The school expectations are outlined in the Request for Assistance form (RfA) which is populated by school staff seeking support for families.   

The team is managed by a Parental Engagement Officer (PE) who is supported by senior management, both within the councils SAC leadership team and Vibrant Communities team.  

Regular team meetings, ‘one to ones’, networking and development sessions ensure collaboration and connectedness across the team. Staff complete weekly activity trackers, maintain a caseload tracker and are regularly asked to share case studies with school staff to ensure that they are maximising impact. All data is collated and verified by the authority Data Intelligence Officer. 

Both, during term time, and over the holidays each home link Worker (HLW) creates a timetable which reflects the work they will be completing on a daily basis.   

Regular reporting ensures scrutiny in relation to practice and data and includes SAC reporting, Children and Young People’s Impact Forum (CYPIF), Education Standards and Quality report, Children and Young People Service Plan, Education Service Plan, Corporate Parenting, Community Planning, Health and Social Partnership Care, South West Education Improvement Collaborative (SWEIC) CLD reporting and GIRFEC  

School ‘one to one’ support is agreed though a Request for Assistance (RfA), in line with the GIRFEC model. Team around the Family ensures clear roles and responsibilities are set and agreed. Schools then select from a suite of supports which best reflects the school community, this includes;  

• Parental engagement, e.g. parental empowerment, Parent in Partnership, Family Involvement programme. Early intervention/ enhanced targeted attendance tracking and action planning 

• Non-attenders support  

• School holiday (Easter, summer and October) family learning sessions - primary school and wider achievement – secondary schools. 

• Enhanced Transition programme – Early Childhood Centre to primary 1, primary 7 to S1 or support in relation to positive destinations.